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Help stop what Al Gore calls "A horrible mistake"

by: WVaBlue

Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:06:02 AM EDT

(Thanks for posting this, Clem! - promoted by Charley on the MTA)

Coal mining near Rawl, West Virginia

There are some bills so egregious that despite bipartisan support in your state Congressional delegation, you just have to take them on. That's what is happening down in West Virginia with the Liquid Coal legislation recently highlighted by Charley on the MTA in "MoveOn vs. The Worst Idea of All Time (or at least one of them)".

We've been covering Liquid Coal since we started West Virginia Blue.

The N.Y.Times wrote about it last week (see: CTL subsidies: corporate welfare writ large, environmental disaster, what's not to like?). As Al Gore denounced it, we asked everyone to call the bill's co-sponosors (including Obama) and express their displeasure (see: Al Gore - "A horrible mistake" -- the dKos version was highly rec'd a week ago and our YouTube video picked up over 2600 views in just a few days). We were tickled pink when word came that Moveon.org picked up our cause with the petition signature drive.

WVaBlue :: Help stop what Al Gore calls "A horrible mistake"

Our most recent "banging of the drum" is coverage of regional displeasure in ths bill (Liquid Coal Backlash in Coal Mining Region), anti-coal activism (Asheville NC activists confront Bank of America for coal industry investments), and hope for a different, better future (Resource Rich, Dirt Poor: Time for a New Deal in Appalachia ).

The Coal to Liquid Fuel bill is a bad piece of legislation. It will increase, not decrease carbon emissions. It will increase, not decrease destruction Mountain Top Removal coal mining. It will increase, not decrease the transfer of wealth to corporate energy owners. This bill is bad energy policy, bad social policy, and bad environmental policy.

Thank you for your support to stop tax-payer subsidies for Liquid Coal.

Clem Guttata
West Virginia Blue
www.wvablue.com

Tags: Activism, Mountain Top Removal, Liquid Coal, (All Tags)

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Help stop what Al Gore calls "A horrible mistake" | 3 comments

Of relevance to the topic of the post (6.00 / 1)

The Rape of Appalachia

Appalachia's mountains are being blasted at a rate of several ridgetops each week. Parents fear for the health of their children. And those trying to fight the devastation have found that coal baron Don Blankenship, C.E.O. of Massey Energy, is tougher than bedrock.

Vanity Fair, May 2006

Before I read this shortly after it was published in hardcopy, I was unaware that coal mining companies were actually doing strip-mining in WVA. I knew they had been doing it in the west for decades, but not WVA.

by: raj @ Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 14:13:44 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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That's an amazing article (0.00 / 0)

Thanks, raj, I hadn't seen that article before. It's quite an amazing piece. It does a great job of summarizing what's been going on down here in West Virginia.

If you want to learn more about Mountain Top Removal, probably the best website to start from is ilovemountains.org.

by: WVaBlue @ Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 15:47:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Don't kid yourself (6.00 / 1)

that it's not a local issue. (irreparable double negative there, sorry) There's a whole lot of sniffing around going on.

Thanks for posting this Clem. Energy policy never takes the entire coal lifecycle issues into account. The NYTimes had a great editorial last week called The Coal Trap which looked at the absurdity of trying to solve one problem by exacerbating another (worse) problem. Here's a big excerpt:

There is a rule for judging solutions to the twin problems of energy dependence and global warming: A policy designed to solve one problem should not make the other worse. But that is a likely outcome of the many ?energy independence? bills circulating in Congress that aim to build a whole new generation of coal-to-liquid plants to convert coal into automotive fuel...snip
snip...What this means is that the country would be investing billions to produce fuels that, from a global warming perspective, leave us at best treading water. That is unacceptable at a time when mainstream scientists are warning that greenhouse gases must be cut by 60 percent or better over the next half-century to avert the worst consequences of global warming.
Researchers at M.I.T. estimate that it will cost $70 billion to build enough coal-to-liquid plants to replace 10 percent of American gasoline consumption. A similar investment in biofuels like cellulosic or sugar-based ethanol ? which could yield substantial reductions in greenhouse gases ? would seem a lot smarter. Given the dimensions of our energy problems, new ideas must be explored. But it makes little sense to shackle the country now to a coal-based technology of such uncertain promise.

Wish you were here!

by: lori @ Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 17:07:47 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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Help stop what Al Gore calls "A horrible mistake" | 3 comments